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Þetta er bíll og bíllinn er hér.

Þetta er bíll og bíllinn er hér.
This is a car and the car is here.
From Lesson 1:Presentative and the definite suffix (þetta er, -inn, -in, -ið)·Icelandic

Breakdown of Þetta er bíll og bíllinn er hér.

þetta
this
vera
to be
bíllinn
the car
hér
here
og
and

Questions & Answers about Þetta er bíll og bíllinn er hér.

Why do we use the neuter word Þetta when bíll is a masculine noun?
When introducing or pointing out something new with the phrase "This is...", Icelandic always uses the fixed neuter form Þetta er, no matter the gender of the noun that follows.
Why does the first half use bíll and the second half use bíllinn?
Bíll is the bare form of the noun, meaning "a car". Because Icelandic doesn't have a separate word for "a" or "an", you just use the base noun. In the second half, the suffix -inn is attached to the end of the word to mean "the car".
How do we know to add -inn to bíll instead of -in or -ið?
The ending depends on the noun's gender. Bíll is a masculine noun, so it takes the masculine definite suffix -inn. If it were a feminine noun it would take -in, and a neuter noun would take -ið.
Does the double 'l' in bíll affect how it is pronounced?
Yes! In Icelandic, a double 'l' usually makes a soft click sound on the sides of your tongue, sounding a bit like "tl" or "dl" in English. So bíll sounds roughly like "beetl". You keep this same sound when saying bíllinn.

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